JPH05258501A - Tape cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] Magnetic tape is sealed inside the cassette housing when not in use, dead space is minimized when the lid is opened and closed, and the opening of the tape cassette is made as wide as possible when used. .. [Structure] A cassette housing 1 having an opening 2 on the front surface,
An opening / closing lid 20 of a size formed by the arm portions 22 and 23 provided with a rotation shaft 24 rotatable with respect to the cassette housing 1 and the plate portion 21 so as to cover the opening portion 2; , The stopper 27 for preventing the opening / closing lid 20 from rotating beyond the upper part of the cassette housing 1, and the opening / closing lid 20.
Urging means 34 for constantly urging the opening 2 with respect to the opening / closing lid 20. The opening means 2 is opened / closed while the urging means 34 receives the urging force as the opening / closing lid 20 rotates. is there.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape cassette suitable for a compact and lightweight magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus capable of recording / reproducing digital signals such as PCM signals and having excellent portability such as carrying.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, a tape cassette most commonly used for audio is a compact cassette, and its appearance is shown in FIG. In the figure, the cassette housing 101 is constructed by combining an upper half 102 and a lower half 103 with screws. Cassette box 1
A magnetic tape 104 is wound around the pair of reel hubs 105 and 106 in 01. A central opening 107 is formed at the central position of the front surface of the cassette housing 101, and the magnetic tape 104 is exposed in the central opening 107. A magnetic head (not shown) is formed in the central opening 107 during recording or reproduction. ) Is to be inserted.

Further, on the left and right sides of the central opening 107 on the front surface of the cassette housing 101, there are first openings 108, 1
No. 08 is formed, and a pinch roller (not shown) is inserted into the first openings 108, 108 at the time of constant speed traveling, and is inserted from the pinch roller and the capstan hole 109 to rotate at a constant rotation. By sandwiching the magnetic tape 104 with (not shown), the magnetic tape 104 runs at a constant speed. And the cassette housing 101
Central opening 107 and first opening 10 on the front surface of the
A pair of second openings 110, 11 are provided between
0 is formed, and the second openings 110, 110 are provided as auxiliary to the central opening 107, and an erasing head (not shown), a tape guide or the like can be inserted therein.

In recent years, the demand for high sound quality has increased in the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus, and a magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus capable of digital recording / reproducing has been desired. Further, a magnetic recording device capable of digital recording / reproduction has already been developed, and the shortest recording wavelength is in the submicron order in the case of high-density recording / reproduction. When the density is increased in this way, what is desired for the cassette half is a non-dust structure, a fingerprint prevention measure, that is, a structure in which the magnetic tape is not exposed by an opening / closing mechanism such as a lid when the tape cassette is not used.

As described above, in the compact cassette, the magnetic tape is always exposed, and dust or the like is likely to adhere to the magnetic tape, and fingerprints may inadvertently adhere to the magnetic tape during operation. .. In such cases, it may cause dropout during playback,
In the case of digital recording, a detection error will occur.

By the way, as described above, the structure of the tape cassette adopted in the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus in recent years, regardless of the presence or absence of digital recording, has a structure such as a lid having an openable / closable lid. At the present time, a considerable number of tape cassettes have an opening / closing lid. The typical tape cassette with an opening / closing lid is shown in FIGS.

FIGS. 6A and 6B show a tape cassette used in an 8 mm VTR. FIG. 3A shows a state in which the tape cassette is not used (here, the term "not used" means that the tape cassette is not loaded in the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus), that is, the opening / closing lid is closed. FIG. 1B shows a state of use (here, the state of use means a time when the tape cassette is loaded in the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus), that is, a state in which the opening / closing lid is open. In the figure, 120 is a tape cassette housing for an 8 mm VTR, 121 is an opening / closing lid, and 122 is a magnetic tape wound inside the tape cassette housing 120.

FIG. 7 shows the opening of the 8 mm VTR tape cassette. FIG. 7 (A) shows the unused state and FIG. 6 (B) shows the used state, and FIGS. 6 (A) and 6 (B) respectively. It corresponds to. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, when not in use, the magnetic tape 122 includes the cassette housing 120 and the opening / closing lid 1.
Since it is sealed by 21, it is prevented from adhering dust and the like. In addition, opening and closing lid 1 when used
21 opens on top of the cassette housing 120, and the magnetic tape 1
22 is exposed and the magnetic tape 122 can be pulled out.

FIG. 8 shows a tape cassette adopted in DAT, which is not used, that is, a magnetic tape is sealed inside the tape cassette. In the figure, 130 is a cassette housing, 131 is a slider, and 132 is an opening / closing lid. In use, first, the slider 131 is slid to the rear of the cassette housing 130 to unlock the opening / closing lid 132. Next, the opening / closing lid 132 is opened to the upper part of the cassette housing 130, the magnetic tape (not shown) is exposed, and the magnetic tape can be pulled out.

FIG. 9 shows the opening of the tape cassette for the DAT. The opening / closing lid 132 is opened and usable, that is, the magnetic tape 133 is exposed from the front surface of the cassette housing 130 and can be pulled out. Is.

FIG. 10 shows a tape cassette developed for a digital recording / reproducing apparatus similar to the DAT tape cassette. FIG. 10A shows the tape cassette when it is not used, that is, the opening / closing lid 141 is closed and the magnetic tape 142 is the cassette. The state is shown in which the case 140 and the opening / closing lid 141 are hermetically sealed. FIG. 2B shows a state in use, that is, the opening / closing lid 141 is opened above the cassette housing 140, and the magnetic tape 142 is exposed from the opening 143 in the front surface of the cassette housing 140. Also, this tape cassette is a cassette housing 14
It has a vertically symmetrical structure so that it can be used even when 0 is turned over.

FIG. 11 shows the vicinity of the opening of the tape cassette and shows the opening / closing operation in detail. (A) of the same drawing is in an unused state, and the opening / closing lid 141 is formed in a substantially U shape by the lid portion 144 and the arm portions 145 provided at both ends of the lid portion 144, and is vertically arranged on the front surface of the cassette housing 140. It is rotatably supported and closes the opening of the cassette housing 140 when not in use. A positioning pin 147 provided in a magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus (not shown) is inserted into the positioning hole 146 of the cassette housing 140 to position the tape cassette. Reference numerals 148a and 148b denote upper and lower protrusions provided on the cassette housing 140. Since the intervals between the upper and lower protrusions 148a and 148b are slightly wider than the width of the lid 144, the lid is not used. 144 is adapted to be fitted into the protrusions 148a and 148b.

FIG. 1B shows the state when the opening / closing lid 141 is opened / closed. First, the positioning pin 147 is inserted to position the cassette housing 140, and at the same time, the arm portion 1 is opened.
The opening / closing lid 141 interferes with the bent portion of the cassette 45 and the cassette housing 14
0 to the front of the front portion of the lid, and the lid 144 is protruded to the projection 148.
It has a form protruding from a and 148b. On the other hand, the kick pin 149 is lifted by a magnetic recording / reproducing device (not shown) so as to push up the lid 144 on the front surface of the cassette housing 140, whereby the opening / closing lid 141 is opened above the cassette housing. FIG. 10C shows a state in which the opening / closing lid 141 is completely opened, that is, a state shown in FIG. 10B. In this state, the magnetic tape 142 opens the opening 14 of the cassette housing 140.
Exposed to 3.

As described above, in any of the tape cassettes described above, when the tape cassette is not used, the opening / closing lid provided on the front surface of the tape cassette closes the opening of the front surface of the tape cassette. Therefore, the magnetic tape is sealed inside the cassette housing,
Dust and the like does not adhere from the outside, and naturally fingerprints can also be prevented.

By the way, during the opening / closing operation of the opening / closing lid of the tape cassette, the turning locus of the opening / closing lid passes through the front part or the upper part of the cassette housing in any tape cassette, so that there is a dead space for opening / closing the opening / closing lid. Will occur. Therefore, there is a limit to miniaturization of the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus when these tape cassettes are used.

Therefore, a tape cassette with a slider has been developed as a tape cassette that does not generate the dead space. This tape cassette is shown in FIGS. FIG. 12 shows an unused state, that is, a state where the magnetic tape is sealed, and FIG. 13 shows a used state, that is, a state where the magnetic tape is exposed. In these figures, 160 is a cassette housing, 161 is a slider, 16
Reference numeral 2 indicates a magnetic tape. The slider 161 is slidably incorporated in the cassette housing 160 in the arrow direction, and is constantly biased in the arrow R direction by a spring (not shown) inside the cassette housing 160.
62 is in a state of being sealed by the cassette housing 160 and the slider 161. 163 is a slider 161
It is a notch provided in the. The slider 161 is slid from the outside in the direction of the arrow in the figure by using the cutout portion 163.

FIG. 13 shows a state when the slider 161 is slid in the L direction. At this time, on the front surface portion of the cassette housing 160, the window portions 164 and 165 provided on the front surface of the slider 161 and the space portion 169 associated with the movement of the slider 161 form the openings 166 and 16 of the cassette housing 160.
7 and 168, the magnetic tape 162 is exposed so that the magnetic head or the like can be inserted.

As described above, in the case of the tape cassette with slider, the slider 161 slides to make the magnetic tape 1
Since the 62 is sealed and exposed, the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus can be downsized without the occurrence of the dead space as described above.

[0019]

However, the length of the opening of the tape cassette with the slider described above, as shown in FIG.
And the opening 16 of the cassette housing 160 shown in FIG.
6,167,168 total length of tape running direction (S ₁
+ S ₂ + S ₃ ) is at most ½ of the length S of the cassette housing 160. This is unavoidable due to the structure of the tape cassette with slider, and the size of the insertion area of the magnetic head, pinch roller, etc. is affected by this.

Therefore, since the sizes of the magnetic head and the pinch roller are substantially constant, when the size of the tape cassette is reduced in order to develop a further smaller magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus, the opening of the tape cassette is accordingly reduced. There is a problem that it is difficult to miniaturize the tape cassette with a slider because the area of the portion becomes small and the insertion size of the magnetic head and the pinch roller cannot be obtained.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to seal a magnetic tape in a cassette case when it is not used and to minimize dead space when opening and closing a lid. Moreover, it is another object of the present invention to provide a tape cassette in which the opening of the tape cassette can be made as wide as possible during use.

[0022]

In order to achieve the above object, in a tape cassette according to the present invention, a cassette housing having an opening at the front surface and a rotation relative to the cassette housing. An opening / closing lid which is formed in a substantially U shape by an arm portion provided with a rotatable axis and a plate portion and has a size to cover the opening portion, and the opening / closing lid is rotated beyond the upper portion of the cassette housing. A stopper for preventing the opening / closing lid and a biasing means for biasing the opening / closing lid in the direction in which the opening / closing lid is always closed, and the biasing means applies a biasing force with the rotation of the opening / closing lid. Upon receiving, the opening is opened and closed. Further, either one of the arm portions may be formed in a substantially arc shape, and the opening / closing lid may be slightly rotated by the interference with the first kick pin inserted from the lower portion of the cassette housing. Further, the cassette housing may be provided with a connecting lever that interlocks with a second kick pin that is inserted from the rear of the cassette housing and that interferes with the arcuate arm portion to slightly rotate the opening / closing lid.

[0023]

In the present invention having the above-described structure, since the opening / closing lid having the size for covering the opening of the cassette housing is provided, the opening can be made as wide as possible when it is used, and moreover, it can be placed in the cassette housing when not in use. It is possible to prevent invasion of dust and the like and adhesion of fingerprints due to careless handling.
Further, since a stopper is provided to prevent the opening / closing lid from rotating beyond the upper part of the cassette housing, the dead space generated during the opening / closing operation of the opening / closing lid is suppressed as much as possible, and the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus can be miniaturized. Can be achieved.

[0024]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a tape cassette according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a view showing the inside of the cassette casing in detail, with the opening / closing lid removed, and a part of the cassette casing being seen through. In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, left and right openings 2a and 2c into which a magnetic head, a pinch roller, a tape guide or the like is inserted in the front surface of the cassette housing 1.
The opening 2 is formed of the central opening 2b. Further, on the lower surface of the opening 2 of the cassette housing 1, cassette positioning holes 3a, 3b and a capstan insertion hole 4a,
4b is bored, and when the cassette housing 1 is loaded in the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus, the cassette positioning pin and the capstan shaft of the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus are inserted into the respective holes.

The magnetic tape 5 passes through the roller pin 6 and the fixing pin 7 in the cassette housing 1, and a pair of reel hubs 8a and 8a.
It is wound around b. The fixed pin 7 and the primary guide pin 9 are formed in a pair with the cassette housing 1, and guide the magnetic tape 5 in the cassette housing 1.
The pressure pad 10 applies a predetermined pressing force to the magnetic head and the magnetic tape 5 so that a good head touch can be obtained when the magnetic head is inserted into the cassette housing 1 from the opening 2b.

The support base 11 of the pressure pad 10 is installed in the cassette housing 1 so as to support the pressure pad 10 at a position where the pressure pad 10 is accurately pressed by the magnetic head. The grip hole 12 is for holding the cassette housing 1, and is properly gripped by a cassette holder or a loading holder in the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus when the tape cassette in this embodiment is inserted into the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus. So that
The cassette housing 1 is provided with recesses on both sides.

The detection unit 13 is provided to prevent erroneous erasure, and the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus can determine the erroneous erasure prevention based on the presence or absence of a hole in the detection unit 13. The crosspiece 14 is formed on the front surface of the opening 2 of the cassette housing 1 in a pair with the cassette housing 1. The crosspiece 14 mainly prevents inadvertent pulling out due to the looseness of the magnetic tape 5 and also serves as an opening / closing lid 20. Further, the crosspiece 14 is provided at a position slightly deeper than the frontmost surface of the cassette housing 1, and when the opening / closing lid 20 is closed, the frontmost surface of the opening / closing lid 20 and the frontmost surface of the cassette housing 1 are substantially aligned. The opening / closing lid 20 is prevented from being opened carelessly.

The opening / closing lid 20 is formed in a substantially U shape by a plate portion 21 and first and second arm portions 22 and 23 provided at both ends of the plate portion 21. The plate portion 21 is set to a size that substantially covers the opening portion 2 of the cassette housing 1 when the opening / closing lid 20 is closed. The rotation shaft 24 is provided on the first arm 22 and the second arm 23, and is engaged with the rotation hole 25 of the cassette housing 1. Therefore, the opening / closing lid 20 is attached to the rotary shaft 2.
It will be rotatably supported around 4.

By the way, the upper portion 26 of the plate portion 21 is formed in a cylindrical shape. On the other hand, the second arm portion 23 has an interference portion 2
7 is formed, and the interference portion 27 interferes with the back side of the crosspiece 14 on the left side in FIG. 2 when the opening / closing lid 20 is opened about 90 ° from the state in which the opening 2 is closed. It becomes the stopper of the rotation of. Therefore, the opening / closing lid 2
0 does not exceed the upper part of the cassette housing 1 due to the rotating operation. The first arm portion 22 has a curved surface portion 28 having a substantially arc shape.
A kick pin (not shown) inserted from the lower portion of the tape cassette through the first opening / closing hole 29 provided in the cassette housing 1 comes into contact with the curved surface portion 28, and the rotation of the opening / closing lid 20 is started. To be done.

The connecting lever 30 is formed in an L-shape, and the long holes 31 and 32 provided in the connecting lever 30 are two connecting lever holding pins 50 provided on the side surface of the cassette housing 1.
51 (FIG. 4) and is held so as to be slidable in the arrow direction of FIG. Further, the tip curved surface portion 30a of the connecting lever 30 comes into contact with the curved surface portion 28 of the first arm portion 22 as the connecting lever 30 slides. Second
The opening / closing hole 33 is provided in the cassette housing 1, and a kick pin (not shown) can press the connecting lever 30 through the second opening / closing hole 33.

The coil spring 34 as a biasing means is pivotally supported on the back side of the side surface of the first arm 22, and one arm portion 35 of the coil spring 34 is fixed to the plate portion 21 of the opening / closing lid 20. Further, the other arm 36 of the coil spring 34 is provided in the cassette housing 1
It is inserted between the spring support bases 37 (FIG. 3) formed in a pair. Therefore, the urging force of the coil spring 34 always acts in the closing direction of the opening / closing lid 20, that is, in the direction in which the opening / closing lid 20 closes the opening 2 of the cassette housing 1, and the opening / closing lid 20 is constantly operated.
Is closed.

Next, the opening / closing lid pivoting operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. The method for opening / closing the opening / closing lid of the tape cassette according to the present invention has a structure in which two methods can be adopted. First, the first method will be described.

FIG. 3 shows the opening / closing operation of the first opening / closing method. FIG. 3A shows a state immediately before the tape cassette according to this embodiment is loaded into the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus. In this state, the tape cassette is already loaded in the cassette holder. Reference numeral 40 denotes a first unit provided in the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus.
It's a kick pin. An opening / closing lever 41 is also provided in the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus. In this state, when an external force (manual or automatic) is applied to the tape cassette to close the cassette holder and the tape cassette starts to descend, the tip portion of the first kick pin 40 is moved to the first opening / closing hole 29.
Then, the opening / closing lid 20 is pushed up against the biasing force of the coil spring 34 as shown in FIG.

Further, when the tape cassette continues to descend due to an external force, the first kick pin 40 pushes up the opening / closing lid 20 while slidingly contacting the curved surface portion 28, and finally the first kick pin 40 as shown in FIG. The contact between the curved surface portion 28 and the curved surface portion 28 is lost. When the tape cassette further continues to descend from this state, the opening / closing lever 41 and the plate portion 21 of the opening / closing lid 20 start to interfere with each other, and the opening / closing lid 20 continues to rotate, as shown in FIG. When the cassette is in the predetermined position, the opening / closing lid 20 is rotated by about 90 °, the opening 2 of the cassette housing 1 is fully opened, and the magnetic tape 5 is exposed to enable magnetic recording / reproduction.

Next, the ejection of the tape cassette will be described. In this case, the reverse operation is performed. That is, when the tape cassette is ejected, an external force is applied to the tape cassette in the state of FIG. 3D, and the tape cassette starts to rise. Next, the opening / closing lever 41 and the first
The kick pin 40 is pulled out from the cassette housing 1, the opening / closing lid 20 is rotated by the urging force of the coil spring 34 so as to close the opening 2, and as shown in FIGS. In FIG. 1A showing the state where the 1 kick pin 40 is completely removed from the cassette housing 1, the opening / closing lid 20 completely seals the opening 2.

In the present embodiment, the tape cassette is described as being moved up and down when the opening / closing lid 20 is opened and closed. However, the tape cassette is not limited to lifting and lowering operation, but is rotated, for example, the rear part of the cassette housing 1. The rotation may have a rotation center near the portion 52.

Next, the opening / closing operation of the second opening / closing method will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4A shows a state in which the tape cassette according to the present embodiment is loaded in the cassette holder 60 in the magnetic recording device (not shown) and immediately before the loading is completed.
Reference numeral 61 denotes a cassette pressing spring which presses the play of the tape cassette in the cassette holder 60. Reference numeral 62 denotes a second kick pin provided in the cassette holder 60, which abuts on the connecting lever 30 through a second opening / closing hole 33 formed in the rear portion of the cassette housing 1 when the tape cassette is loaded in the cassette holder 60. ..

FIG. 3B shows a state in which the present tape cassette is completely loaded in the cassette holder 60. In this figure, a grip hole 12 provided on the side surface of the cassette housing 1 is held by a grip lever (not shown) provided on the cassette holder 60 to prevent back and forth play of the tape cassette. In this state, the connecting lever 30 is pushed by the second kick pin 62 and moves to the front part of the cassette housing 1, and the tip curved surface portion 30a of the connecting lever 30 contacts the curved surface portion 28 of the first arm portion 22 of the opening / closing lid 20. contact,
The opening / closing lid 20 is slightly rotated, and the plate portion 21 of the opening / closing lid 20 is rotated.
Will protrude from the front surface of the cassette housing 1.

After that, the first method shown in FIG.
As shown in (D), as the tape cassette descends, the opening / closing lever 41 pushes up the opening / closing lid 20 to open the opening / closing lid 20. Since the operation of ejecting the tape cassette is almost the same as the operation described in the first opening / closing method, the description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the opening / closing lid 20
Since there are two opening and closing methods, the flexibility in designing the mechanism of the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus is improved.

[0041]

As described above, according to the tape cassette of the present invention, the tape cassette has the opening / closing lid for preventing the entry of dust such as dust, and the opening / closing lid is opened and closed during the opening / closing operation of the opening / closing lid of the tape cassette. Since it does not exceed the upper part of the cassette housing, it is possible to miniaturize the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus without generating an extra dead space in the cassette housing.

Further, since the width of the tape cassette opening can be widened to a width close to that of the cassette housing, the magnetic head and the pinch roller to be inserted into the opening can be designed without any great restriction. Not only can the recording / reproducing apparatus be downsized, but it can be provided at low cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a tape cassette according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a part of the cassette housing in a transparent manner with the opening / closing lid removed in the embodiment.

3 (A), (B), (C), and (D) are explanatory views showing the opening / closing sequence of the first opening / closing method of the opening / closing lid in FIG.

4 (A) and 4 (B) are explanatory views showing the opening / closing sequence of the second opening / closing method of the opening / closing lid in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a conventional tape cassette.

6A and 6B are perspective views showing a tape cassette used in a conventional 8 mm VTR.

7A and 7B are cross-sectional views showing an opening of the 8 mm VTR tape cassette shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a tape cassette adopted in a conventional DAT.

9 is an explanatory view showing an opening of the DAT tape cassette shown in FIG. 8. FIG.

10A and 10B are perspective views showing a tape cassette for a conventional digital recording / reproducing apparatus.

11 (A), (B), and (C) are explanatory views showing the vicinity of the opening of the tape cassette of FIG.

12A and 12B are a plan view and a front view showing a conventional unused state of a tape cassette with a slider.

13 (A) and 13 (B) are a plan view and a front view showing a state of using a conventional tape cassette with a slider.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 cassette housing 2 opening 5 magnetic tape 20 opening / closing lid 21 plate part 22 first arm part 23 second arm part 24 turning shaft 25 turning hole 27 interference part (stopper) 28 curved surface part 29 first opening / closing hole 30 connection Lever 33 Second opening / closing hole 34 Coil spring (biasing means) 40 First kick pin 41 Opening / closing lever 60 Cassette holder 62 Second kick pin

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cassette housing having an opening on a front surface thereof,
An opening / closing lid that is formed in a substantially U shape by an arm portion and a plate portion that are provided with a rotation shaft that is rotatable with respect to the cassette housing, and has a size that covers the opening, and the opening / closing lid is the cassette. A stopper is provided to prevent the opening / closing lid from rotating beyond the upper portion of the housing, and a biasing means for urging the opening / closing lid in the direction of always closing the opening / closing lid is provided. The tape cassette, wherein the biasing means receives a biasing force and the opening is opened and closed. 2. One of the arm portions is formed in a substantially arc shape, and the opening / closing lid is slightly rotated by interference with a first kick pin inserted from a lower portion of the cassette housing. The described tape cassette. 3. The cassette housing is provided with a connecting lever which interlocks with a second kick pin inserted from the rear of the cassette housing and interferes with the arcuate arm portion to slightly rotate the opening / closing lid. The tape cassette described in 2.